The Gidabo irrigation dam, with a reservoir capacity of 62.5 million metric cubic, is located between the Oromia and SNNP regional states and can irrigate 13, 425 hectares of land.
The dam, which has a height of 25.8 meters and a length of 335 meters, was built by Ethiopia‘s Construction Works Corporation and Construction Works Design the nation’s Supervision Corporation had a consulting role.
The Prime Minister on the occasion said the new dam would bring the peoples of West Guji and Sidama zones together for common benefits besides addressing shortage of water which had been a source of conflict between people of the two regions.
He said the government will give especial attention to agriculture sector through launching irrigation projects, he emphasized that similar projects will bring together communities from different regions.
More than 10,000 farmers and over 192,000 youth job seekers would benefit from the irrigation dam which will also be used for fishing and tourism purposes.
The delayed dam with total area of 4.7 million square kilometers is also expected to attract agricultural investment to the area. Began in 2010, the completion date of the project was reportedly extended due to design changes.
The construction of the new irrigation dam project had created 1, 072 permanent and temporary jobs.